Christian Message Boards: TWO THINGS WE KNOW

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Posted by WildB (Member # 2917) on :

by Cornelius R. Stam

In Romans 8 St. Paul points to two great truths which every true believer knows. The first (Verses 22,23) he knows by experience; the second (Verse 28) he knows by faith.

Rom. 8:22,23: "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."

The words "until now," in this passage, are significant, for our Lord came to earth healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, making the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the lame to leap for joy. But He was rejected by sinful men and nailed to a cross.

After His resurrection and ascension His persecutors were given another chance, however, as Peter called upon them to repent so that "the times of refreshing" might still "come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19,20). But again the King and His blessed kingdom were rejected so that, in the words of Paul, the whole creation continues to groan and travail in pain "together until now."

But in this passage the Apostle points out that even God's children are not exempt from this suffering, for the most sincere believer, the most consecrated saint, must still partake of the sufferings and sorrows of the world while he waits for "the redemption of our body," when "we shall all be changed" (I Cor. 15:51).

But while every believer knows about suffering and sorrow by experience, there is something else he knows by faith. Verse 28 speaks of this:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

The true Christian is not a mere optimist; he is a believer in God's Word, and God has much to say about how He is working all out for the good of His own. We have room here to quote but two passages:

II Cor. 4:17: "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Rom. 8:18: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

Posted by Betty Louise (Member # 7175) on :

thank you WildB. I needed that today. I have been taking care of two patients in my home, for a week. My mom who is in a hospital bed and my hubby who is suppose to spend most of the day in bed. Being a care giver when you walk with a cane and health issues of your own is indeed hard physically but there is alot of mental stress dealing with sick cranky people. As the Bible says "Joy comes in the morning"
Thank you for your encouragement.
betty

Posted by TB125 (Member # 2450) on :

Betty,
Please check out this post on my blog: http://christianityetc.org/blog/gift-of-emotional-support I would be glad to add your comment to my discussion of this matter. Also you might check out these statements on my website: encouragement and document.writeln(timestamp(new Date(2011,1,25,13,8,0), dfrm, tfrm, 0, 0, 0, 0)); :

This is a great post.

My uncle Ray was talking one time and said that he beleives we are sometimes ment to suffer.

Suffering leads to greater strength and also causes us to thirst for the things to come.

The Lord, our God, knows all things and knows how to use those things to allow his gifts to be so much more beautiful to us.

God is great and is in control of everthing.

It is a blessing to know, by Gods Word, that all things that work in our lives are actually working for our betterment - even the things that seem bad to us at the moment.

Thanks for the post, it is truly uplifting.

Posted by Betty Louise (Member # 7175) on :

TB,
Added a bookmark for your blog.
thank you.
betty

Posted by TB125 (Member # 2450) on :

Thanks. I hope that you find some of my material to be interesting and helpful.